Page 134 of The Redemption
Meher.
Kailash Uncle.
Haider.
Even Mom beside me.
Everybody just stares at Raghav. Because this is not just a statement. It’s a warning.
“And anybody who has a problem addressing her with the respect that title carries…” His eyes move across the room slowly, ruthlessly until they lock on Ayaan. “… can deal with me directly.”
A shiver runs down my spine. After a declaration like that, nobody would dare question him. Not even me. Even Ayaan looks momentarily stunned, although the tension between the brothers still crackles violently in the room.
Raghav finally points a finger towards him.
“And this is the first and last time you go behind my back and interfere in my decisions,” he says harshly. “We’re brothers, which means we stand on the same side.Always. If you ever pull something like this again, I won’t tolerate it.”
Ayaan fingers curl into fists at the warning. Then without waiting for a response from anyone, Raghav turns and storms towards the staircase. The entire villa falls into dead silence again after he leaves. Ayaan curses under his breath before angrily walking towards one of the rooms further inside. Meher waddles after him slowly, one hand resting protectively over her stomach.
Now, only Kailash Uncle, Mom, Haider, and I remain standingthere.
Uncle looks more exhausted than angry, as though the weight of both his sons has crushed his peace of mind. Despite that, he slowly looks at Mom first and then at me.
“None of us ever thought a day like this would come,” he says quietly, shaking his head. “I’m sorry, Siya. I cannot defend what Raghav did. And as his family, I truly wish he hadn’t chosen this path.” His shoulders drop slightly in sadness.
Mom stays silent beside me as Kailash Uncle slowly folds his hands in front of us.
“But still,” he continues, “on Raghav’s behalf, I ask forgiveness from both of you.”
The apology shocks me, and something twists painfully inside my chest seeing him like this... defeated, helpless, and almost ashamed of the choices his own son has made. It feels wrong.
Before he can keep his hands folded in front of Mom and me any longer, I immediately step forward and gently lower them myself.
“Please don’t,” I say softly, shaken by the sight. “None of this is your fault.”
He simply looks at me, his eyes heavy with disappointment and heartbreak. He then lifts his hand and pats my head once, almost absentmindedly, like he’s too overwhelmed to evenprocess everything happening around him. And before I can say anything else, he turns around and quietly walks out of the villa.
Haider follows him without a word. I look at Mom, who simply shakes her head in quiet dismissal at everything that has just unfolded inside this house since our arrival.
Without saying anything more, she turns and walks back towards her room, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the villa… inside a house where a family is already breaking apart because of me.
CHAPTER 26
RAGHAV
An hour later – Office Cabin
As soon as I step into my office cabin, I slam the door shut behind me with enough force to rattle the glass walls. I couldn’t stay in that villa any longer. Not after everything that just happened. It’s been an hour since that scene at the villa, but my pulse is still racing. I’m still furious, still unable to sit down. My body is still wound tight, as if I could punch through concrete if someone provokes me one more time today.
That’s when the cabin door opens quietly, and Baba walks in. The only man in this world who can walk into my rage without permission.
“You’re still angry?” he asks calmly.
A bitter laugh almost escapes me.
Angry?That word feels too small for whatever the hell is burning inside me right now. Baba reads my silence and walks further in.
“I won’t ask if this is the right time to talk,” he says eventually. “Because I do need to talk to you, Raghav.”
